London Life

Break-up capital

To the former Mrs Hohn, £337m; to the ex-Mrs Phil Collins, £25m; to the estranged Mandy Gray, £75m. The newspaper headlines say it all. For the rich and even richer, London has become the divorce capital of the world. And January is its busiest month, with the first working Monday after Christmas and New Year known as ‘Divorce Day’.

So what is the appeal of the capital for those who have lost the will to live together? Bury St Edmunds Family Court, the divorce centre that deals with London and the South East, issued around 40,000 divorce petitions in the past year. “The primary advantage of English law is the family court’s starting point that assets will be split 50:50,” says solicitor Harriet Errington of private-client law firm Boodle Hatfield, which has been advising some of the world’s wealthiest families for the past 300 years. “They will then hear arguments why either party should depart from equality.”

Which is undoubtedly not so elsewhere, where money and property brought into a marriage can often be taken out of it untouched and post-split responsibilities can be extremely limited. In Scotland, for example, alimony payments are restricted to just three years.

Deciding to get divorced in the capital, however, is not just a matter of pick and choose. Those wanting a hearing before an English judge have to prove ‘habitual residence’ of at least 12 months.

“There’s no statutory definition of the term,” says Errington, “but it’s normally quite obvious – having a job or children going to school in England or Wales.”

It is, of course, when things aren’t quite so clear cut that British lawyers have done particularly well out of the regime. Some, like Baroness Fiona Shackleton of Payne Hicks Beach (who acted for Sir Paul McCartney and the Prince of Wales), have gained celebrity in the process, but her (generally female) competitors, like Wither’s Diana Parker (Sir Chris Hohn, Melissa Miller), Mishcon de Reya’s Sandra Davis (Jerry Hall, Thierry Henry, the Princess of Wales) and Stewart Law’s Helen Ward (Lord Lloyd-Webber, Bernie Ecclestone) all charge an impressive £600 or so an hour to disentangle the domestic affairs of the super rich.

Who gets the house – or indeed the houses – is generally a critical question in any divorce, but never more so than when the main family residence is worth double or even triple digit millions, and lawyers will often approach a property search firm even before they start suggesting ways of carving up the storeys.

“We will be asked if it’s a good idea to sell and whether and where it’s feasible to buy,” says Richard Rogerson, CEO of property private office RFR. “Lawyers want a discreet means of evaluating the market, and may want to hide the fact that a property is being sold due to a divorce, when buyers can assume the price may be up for negotiation.”

Even for the wealthiest, a split can mean downsizing with an accompanying loss of face. The courts can, in fact, be surprisingly sympathetic to post-code status issues. “They might expect you to move from Clapham to Streatham, but not from Belgravia to Streatham,” says Harriet Errington.

Rogerson finds, if children are not part of the equation, couples will generally favour reduced square footage over unknown territory, but feels his job is to find solutions that will make everyone happy. “We might find a new house that’s just one tube stop further down the line, or say to a client, you could look in Notting Hill rather than Knightsbridge.” Clearly this type of advice is popular, since some streets in W11, such as Kensington Park Road and Stanley Crescent, are now considered divorcée hubs.

Occasionally settlements are so lavish that compromise isn’t in question, but divorce-provoked buying is generally one of the most demanding transactions estate agents face. “Both sides are so charged with emotion,” says Peter Wetherell, founder and chief executive of Mayfair agents Wetherell. “To minimise the tension, I always say, start with the algebra, the a+b = c, and then work out the arithmetic.”

Trust – or rather distrust – is frequently a distinguishing feature. “Often both sets of lawyers will employ their own chartered surveyors to give independent valuations,” says Andrew Langton, founder of Chelsea-based Aylesford International, “but it’s always an opinion based on evidence. Unfortunately, at the moment, evidence is in short supply.”

Market conditions for the past year or so have been particularly challenging for top-of-the-range properties. Not only have prices come down in the primest of prime locations, but recently raised levels of stamp-duty for those buying a new home over £2m can come as a rude shock to those forced into a sale and purchase.

Indeed, some couples, importing an idea now common in the US, are choosing to retain the marital home, while each partner buys or rents a smaller (and cheaper) property of their own.

“It can make a lot of sense,” says Richard Rogerson. “It gives the children stability and allows the couple to try out a new area or a new lifestyle without too great a commitment.”

Money may not be able to buy you a happy long-lasting marriage, but it can certainly ease the problems of change.